Eusébio awaits Regions' Cup draw

Portuguese footballing hero Eusébio will help conduct the draw for this summer's UEFA Regions' Cup finals on Wednesday 11 May, from 21.00CET, at the Colunata de Eventos in Braga.

At the draw, the eight qualifiers are split into two groups of four for the final tournament, which will be staged in the Minho region from 21 to 28 June. As host region, Braga will be placed in position A1 in Group A, with seven teams competing with them for Europe's top prize for amateur footballers: Germany's Württemberg FV, Ireland's Leinster & Munster, Turkey's Ankara, Serbia's Belgrade, Czech side Zlín Region, South Region Russia and Yednyst Plysky from Ukraine.

Jim Boyce, first vice-chairman of the UEFA Youth and Amateur Committee, will be overseeing the draw, and is excited at the prospect of a seventh edition of the competition. "UEFA deserve tremendous credit for the Regions' Cup," he told UEFA.com. "It's giving lads who never dreamed they would play in European competition the opportunity to play in finals.

"The football has been exceptional, the last few years," he added. "We've seen it grow from humble beginnings to being a tournament that's projected very well in the countries where it takes place, so I'm looking forward to it. This year it's in Portugal; the region's beautiful. The team from my association, Northern Ireland, will never forget the time they got to the finals in Bulgaria [in 2007] and I believe it is very important that UEFA continue with these competitions."